The World Doesn't Stop Turning
by Zentauria
Summary: Drabble series. Set in the time after Galaxy, with varying characters and genres.
1. Konoha

**I'm surprised. I never had any inclination to write drabbles, but when you're haunted by plot bunnies, you do stuff...**

 **Writing 100 words is done quickly. However, writing _exactly_ 100 words... not so much. u.u**

* * *

 **Konoha**

Morimura Konoha stared at the card in her hands, blushing to the limit. It had been in the postbox this morning, together with a teddy bear. It was an invitation to a three-day-trip to Okinawa, from no one else than Kusaka Ryuuji. The time frame: 23rd of December til 25th. In other words: Christmas.

She should turn it down. If she accepted, there was no turning back. She couldn't make a decision as final as this.

Small hands clutched the card tighter. Enough of these thoughts. She wasn't a mouse, but a graceful, elegant fox. She could. And she _would_.

* * *

 **As opposing to Christian countries, where Christmas is a day of contemplation and family, Christmas in Japan is like a second Valentine's Day, actually even more so. If you're invited on a date for Christmas there, you can safely assume that the invitor is serious about it. Very.**


	2. Tenma&Aoi

**Tenma/Aoi**

"Aoi!"

The blunette turned around to greet her friend with a warm smile. He had placed his hands on his knees, gasping, brown hair clinging to his neck with sweat.

"Sorry I'm late," Tenma panted, licking his lips nervously. "I met some kids at the riverbank, and I kinda..."

"Forgot the barbeque party in Shindou-san's garden?"

"Well..."

The boy rubbed his head sheepishly, and Aoi chuckled.

"What?" her friend pouted.

"Nothing."

She took Tenma's hand. He hummed in surprise, but he squeezed back. Aoi didn't need any more to be happy. She was patient.

* * *

 **According to OpenOffice, it's 100 words. According to this website's counter, it's 94. As for me: I've no idea whether I should count the abbreviations, so I go with OpenOffice. Period.**


	3. Matatagi

**Matatagi**

Barbeque party. Matatagi should have been horrified at the prospect of such a gathering, but occasionally, you surprise yourself. The time of hate had passed.

However, he still wasn't comfortable mingling with all those Raimon freaks, so he made himself scarce with the excuse of tucking his brothers in. The two were sleeping peacefully on a sofa in the guest room whose balcony the eldest stood on, leaning against the parapet trying to trace the wall up to the roof with limited success. The starlight made it impossible to see clearly.

"So this is how rich people live, huh?"

* * *

 **How dare Kageyama disappearing without fulfilling his side of the contract?**


	4. Ibuki

**Ibuki**

"Go, Ibuki!"

"You can do it!"

"You bet!", the white-haired boy announced, grinning smugly. Without him realizing it, his change in attitude brought the basketball club back together. They were playing as a team again, they were in the lead, and Ibuki was about to score another time for them. He dribbled towards the basket, dodging his opponents. He jumped and... got a soccer ball in his face.

"I thought you wanted me to acknowledge your skills," Shindou said haughtily. "If you're still intent on trying it, I'd recommend you stop daydreaming."

Ibuki scoffed as answer.

* * *

 **I'm not sure if Shindou's appreciation is actually worth it...**


	5. Saryuu

**Saryuu**

Saryuu banged his head on the desk. He was so frustrated, he almost broke his pen.

After the injection, some of the Second Stage Children had been offered an apprenticeship at El Dorado. It was a good bargain – the kids had maintained their intelligence and used it to help managing governmental issues, while in return, they received payment and accommodation. The perfect chance, only that Saryuu hadn't been to school for ages, leaving knowledge gaps no amount of intelligence could compensate for. It was ironic. Saru, the feared leader of the superhuman army Feida, was beaten by simple algebra.

* * *

 **Honestly, I would have kept the SSC like this for another year or two. The vaccine doesn't run away, and superpowers are always handy to have.**


	6. Endou

**Endou**

Endou watched his team practice. Normally, he would be bursting with pride, having been granted a position as their coach.

But not today. He'd been feeling slightly sick this morning, his stomach churning with the breakfast his dear wife had cooked for him. As much as he loved her, he would get some Ramen from Tobitaka this evening, before he got a serious food poisoning.

"Are you alright, coach?"

Endou looked up and met the worried eyes of the team captain.

"Breakfast," he muttered and Tenma adopted a long-suffering look. He knew exactly what Endou was talking about.

* * *

 **Inviting Tenma was not so well thought out, Endou-kantoku! You didn't know what you've been doing to him, right?**


	7. Kinako&Fei

**Kinako & Fei**

"No, Fei! Stop throwing the bananas against the wall!" Kinako scolded her two-year-old son, but the bunny-haired child continued petulantly.

"No!", he cried. "Don't want to!"

What exactly Fei didn't want, Kinako never knew. Sometimes she even got the impression he didn't know himself, and was just being naughty for the sake of it.

Another banana thumped against the kitchen wall and fell down in a thick puddle of banana pulp. The stressed mother took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She knew her son when he grew up, a gentle kid. But those poor bananas...

* * *

 **Let's not get into detail about the billion logical issues stemming from Kinako surviving the birth...**


	8. Tsurugi

**Tsurugi**

Tsurugi stared incredulously at the cloaked figure in front of him. The hood was pulled over her head, hiding the girl's unusual features.

What was she doing in front of his door? She was supposed to be far away, with an unmeasurable distance lying between them, busying herself with the affairs of her people. She had duties to attend to, or so Tsurugi had thought. She was skiving off, letting her planet down by doing so.

"Hello Tsurugi!", Lalaya Obies chirped. "Will you become my country's king now?"

Tsurugi sighed. So she'd been attending to her duties, after all.

* * *

 **Because stalking people from other planets is a state affair, as long as you want to marry them.**


	9. Yuuichi

Tsurugi Yuuichi was bored.

Sometimes, he would lie in bed, stare at the ceiling, envisioning a better future with his legs intact and his brother the happiest child in the world.

Sometimes, he would walk down memory lane, thinking about what have been or what might have been. Confusingly enough, memory lane was forked, although one direction was a dead end. Tenma had tried to explain, talking about time travel.

And sometimes, he was plainly bored, with thinking and re-thinking being a far cry from what you might call "satisfying".

The door creaked and a pink-haired girl entered. Yuuichi smiled.

* * *

 **Yeah, I did a Korra-marathon Book Balance and the saying "walk down memory lane" kinda impressed me. (Yup, I watched it in English. German dub sucks.)**

 **Did I mention I ship YuuichixYuuka and have some serious trouble imagining why? They just sneaked up my OTP list, without even interacting! But well, I guess it's still pretty sane, compared to other pairings you can find. I won't name them though, else I might rant about why they are SO NOT HAPPENING, BASING on their interactions. And we don't want to go around torpedoing ships, right?**

 **Btw, this is the first drabble OpenOffice and this-site-which-can't-be-named agree upon having 100 words. Yay!**


	10. Kariya

**I'm alive! It's a double drabble this time, because... reason. Making up for time lost.**

* * *

 **Kariya**

Being sick sucks. But being the only one not sick sucks even more, if you asked Kariya.

After the friendly match against Hakuren, which Fubuki suggested untimely in the middle of winter, Kariya was the first to catch a cold. Now, with the antibodies still circulating about his system, he couldn't catch it again.

Of course, when they started to head home, Fubuki made sure his guests had enough masks and tissue to get by, but getting stuck in a snowdrift hadn't been in the plan. So while Coach Endou sniffled into his cellphone trying to organize shovels, Kariya hurried about the bus, handing tissue to anyone who looked like they needed it. Which was to say, every single person around.

"You need hel..?" Hikaru tried to offer, but got interrupted by his own sneeze, his eyes tearing up.

"Obviously, it's _you_ who needs it," Kariya said in an attempt to pull out his usual snarky self. Later, he would be disappointed with it, but for the moment, he was to irritated to care.

Hikaru smiled anyway. "Thank you."

Maybe there was an upside to that all: Kariya has never been thanked so much in all his life.

* * *

 **Inspiration for this one? I caught a cold in the middle of _summer._** **Yeah, I'd like to see anyone else do that!**

 **To Nomadic Defender: Making people ship Yuuichi and Yuuka is one of my favorite hobbies! XP Thank you!**

 **If there are people out there having fun spouting random words, I'd like to hear them. Randomness is my source of inspiration, so yeah, if you have a word which would make a nice topic for a drabble, go ahead! It's like some kind of request-taking, but don't hate me if I can't do anything about it. Forcing ideas never ends well, at least for me.**


	11. Beta

**Guess who's alive!**

* * *

 **Beta**

Beta's been rather erratic lately. While normally her sweet personality outweighed her haughty one, it was the other way round now. She yelled at just about anybody, to the point that even Alpha remarked on her unusual behavior. But as soon as she was alone, she would lie down on the next sofa and whimper. Her stomach hurt. She tried not to show it, but it affected her performances in soccer and every task she was given. Toudou was concerned, while Reiza would only smile sympathetically. She's been through it, too.

For the first time, Beta was in her period.

* * *

 **I like Beta. A lot. But antagonists tend to lack... humanizing, so to say. Looking at Beta, one can easily forget she's just a girl. Which is why I wrote... this.**

 **By the way, it's the second drabble which both OpenOffice and the-site-which-can't-be-named (Seriously, what's with that URL censor?) agree upon having exactly 100 words.**

 **Leave a review, if you don't mind. Or go ahead, whatever floats your boat~** **(Love that saying. Love sayings in general. Want to team up with Midorikawa and write a collection of sayings. Well, I guess you got it, so...)**

 **Zentauria over and out!**


	12. Alpha&Gamma

**Hey people! Do you still remember me? Like, that weird person who hasn't been updating in a while?**

* * *

 **Alpha & Gamma**

Alpha and Gamma were playing chess. There was nothing else to do, so the two Protocol Omega captains had decided to sit down and try each other's company out.

It was hard to tell with Alpha, but Gamma was clearly enjoying himself. He put forth a pawn and took a sip of tea. He almost did a spit take when Alpha made a move he'd never seen before, checking his king.

"Hey, that's cheating!", Gamma protested

"No."

"But a pawn can't move like that!"

"It can."

"It can't!" Gamma cried, waving his tea around.

Alpha stared at him with emotionless gray eyes. "It can," he deadpanned. "And I would appreciate it if you would stop threatening me with that mug of yours."

Gamma blinked, totally nonplussed. He'd never heard his fellow El Dorado member speak so many words in a row before.

He set down his mug next to the chess board. "Would you repeat that, please?" Gamma asked, hoping to draw Alpha out another time. But the answer was to be expected.

"No."

Gamma sighed. He had chosen a cheery fellow to spend his free time with... He should go find Beta, really.

* * *

 **As you can see, this is a double drabble, because there are two characters in it. Kind of a new idea, but, whatever.**

 **Anyway, I hope it was satisfying to those who requested Alpha.**


	13. Nagumo&Suzuno

**And another double drabble~**

* * *

 **Nagumo & Suzuno**

Nagumo Haruya wasn't particularly happy with his lot. It was cloudy and cold, and snowflakes floated down from the sky, adorning his fiery red hair with white dots he knew would turn into wet blobs soon enough.

He grumbled and nestled deeper into his scarf, trying hard for warmth while approaching a post box. Why did he have to send that stupid letter anyway?

Because the insurance said so. Nagumo contemplated the situation and came to the conclusion that there were times when being an adult sucks. He put the letter into the box and grumbled again.

"Hello, Burn!" a voice suddenly sounded behind him. The read-head span around, there was only one person who would address him that way.

"Gazel," he responded, not sure if he should explode at the intrusion or be thankful that his friend showed up. "Long time no see."

"Long time no see indeed. Care for a cup of tea? You look freezing cold."

"You don't."

Suzuno smiled wistfully and Nagumo realized how his friend had matured. Back in the old days, he would rarely smile, unless it was for looking smug.

"It has always been that way, hasn't it?"

* * *

 **Nothing to say about this one. I like the pair, they are very... dynamic. And I enjoyed writing about them as grown-ups, it's almost a pity it's just a tiny double drabble~**


	14. Hiroto&Hitomiko

**Me again! My Internet connection sucks right now, but I sorta managed this and... hopefully the next one too...**

* * *

 **Hiroto & Hitomiko**

The day has finally come. The day Hiroto marked in his calendar with a huge red cross, to remind everyone in the company he was not to be bothered. That he wasn't there, actually. That he took a day off. No meetings, no paperwork, nothing.

He sat on a bench in the foyer of Inazuma's prison, his sister Hitomiko next to him. She was nervously chewing on her nails, her usual calmness gone. She had taken a day off as well for this fateful appointment.

Hiroto took her hand to stop her from biting her fingers off, and squeezed it reassuringly. "It's okay," he told her.

"I know," Hitomiko answered, but she wouldn't elaborate. Hiroto fixed his glasses. Secretly, he was just as nervous as her, but he had learned to control his feelings. You need that ability if you want to be a successful businessperson.

Finally, the man they've been waiting for entered the foyer, accompanied by a prison guard. Both Hiroto and Hitomiko jumped from their seats, then the woman froze in place. Hiroto gave her a light push. "You first."

Suddenly bursting into tears, Hitomiko rushed to the elderly man and embraced him tightly.

"Father!"


	15. Midorikawa

**This one is a... I don't know. It's called Schnapsdrabble in German, but I couldn't find an English translation. It means the drabble form requires 333 words instead of 300.**

 **It goes with the drabble before.**

* * *

 **Midorikawa/(Aliea Gakuen)**

Midorikawa paced about Hiroto's house, checking that everything was just as his friend wanted it to be. Banner hanging in the entrance hall? Nagumo and Suzuno worked on it. Chefs preparing the buffet? Reina hurried them along. Decorations? Atsuishi's shouting can be heard around the whole mansion.

But still Midorikawa was not satisfied. Time was running and the preparations were yet to be finished.

"Hey, Midorikawa! Will you stop prowling about like some ant got your pants?!" Nagumo yelled after the greenette ended up in the entrance hall for about the hundredth time. "I can't work like this!"

"Sorry!" Midorikawa apologized and waved his hands sheepishly, inching away from the explosive red-head standing on a ladder.

Only to walk backwards into Suzuno's ladder, knocking it over. The blunette barely managed to grab onto the upper floor's gallery parapet.

"Damn it, Midorikawa!" he hissed and swung himself upwards to climb to safety. "Are you trying to kill me?!"

"I'm so sorry!"

Nagumo grumbled. Suzuno had dropped the banner in a reflex, and he had to do the same if the weight of that thing shouldn't knock him over himself. Now they had to start all over again.

"Will you please go and annoy someone else? Weren't you supposed to pick up Sumeragi and the others from the station anyway?"

"Oh..." Midorikawa drawled, then his eyes widened as the full extent of Nagumo's words dawned on him. He swore under his breath. He thought about everything other people had to do, but he completely forgot his own task. "Thank you for reminding me!" he shouted and hurried outside to get his bike. He didn't want to count the former Aliea Gakuen members who waited for him at the station. He received some death glares from the more impatient ones and apologized profusely.

However, when they arrived at Hiroto's place again after about half an hour, Reina proudly received him.

"The preparations for Father's Welcome Home party are done!"


End file.
